The Fantasti- I mean The Terrifics! (The Terrifics #1 Comic Review)

This has been a long time coming. After reintroducing Mr. Terrific and Plastic Man in Dark Nights Metal, many thought that they would just fade back into the C list section of the DC Universe. Now with this New Age of Heroes DC has started, they not only get to stay around, but more characters come along for their new journey. Let’s take a look at The Terrifics #1 and see if it’s worthy of being called a good read.

What You Need To Know:

Michael Holt, the founder of Holt industries, the 3rd smartest man in the DCU, and the superhero known as Mr. Terrific, has a very confusing backstory currently. If we go by the original pre-New 52 origin, he was contemplating suicide one day when The Spectre, DC’s version of Ghost Rider kinda, came to him and told him of Terry Sloane the original Mr. Terrific. After this Michael became the super smart tech-based crime fighter in honor of Sloane. Now…well if the New 52 origin is intact, then he just decided to become Mr. Terrific and stand up for the little guy and sport the moniker of FairPlay. He along with Plastic Man, long time DC criminal turned hero after gaining stretching abilities, have been

involved in assisting Batman in his research of the Dark Multiverse which leads to Dark Nights Metal (if you haven’t read Metal #1-5 yet, you’re doing yourself a disservice.)

The Breakdown:

Post the events of Dark Nights Metal (wait we’re not done with that yet!) Michael Holt has lost his entire company to Simon Stagg, wealthy DC Comics businessman, (for those who have played Batman: Arkham Knight he built the Cloudburst weather machine) and now has returned to reclaim what is his. Upon entering he finds Stagg has opened a portal to the Dark Multiverse, (seriously you should really read Metal) by using a machine of Mr. Terrific’s and the hero Metamorpho to hold it open. After releasing Plastic Man from his egg form, Mr. Terrific finds himself, Metamorpho, and Plastic Man in an all-new world, an unfamiliar face in the form of…Phantom Girl from the Legion of Superheroes?!?! Oh and also a message from Tom fricken Strong of all people tasking them with an all-new mission: save the universe.

Opinions and Such:

Oh Lordy, this was amazing. Everything I’ve wanted for so long in a Fantastic 4 book in a book by DC Comics. Now let’s get something straight. Just because DC is using ideas like Hulk, Spider-man and the 4 from Marvel doesn’t mean they’re doing something horribly wrong. Both of the Big Two have been stealing from each other for years and this isn’t the first time. Can someone say Squadron Supreme? Plus this lineup isn’t really fully the 4. It’s a random as can be a team, but it has potential to stand on its own as a new staple of DC. The story is short but no less enjoyable. Your first issue is normally set up and that’s what we got. Set up. And it’s executed amazingly with hope for next issue to push on in full force.

The art by Ivan Reis is very well done, it sort of echoes Jim Lee in some ways and maintains that tight human look I’ve come to expect and desire from mainstream comics. Nothing too abstract or trippy. The color choices especially on Metamorpho as he holds open the portal are gorgeous and the dead monster thing towards the end of the book had me intrigued. and in awe. One thing of note that kind of ties into DC’s initiative of involving artists more in the overall comic process. Both writer Jeff Lemire and artist Ivan Reis are credited as storytellers…not writer and artist…very cool.

The Terrifics #1 is the start of a series people have craved for so long. A band of unlikely heroes working together to save the universe. Part of me wishes this was a book written at Marvel Comics with heroes that I’ve loved for years, but with this team, it has the potential to take a character I’ve loved, and others don’t know and turn them into an all-star team for DC. With the apparent demise of Tom fricken Strong, the one that many wouldn't of minded a fantastic 4 style series about, maybe this is not just a new age of heroes, maybe this is the new age of a family.